Republicans have rhetoric, not ideas.

General Dempsey Mr. Ryan? That is not a 'misspoken' word, it was a huge mistake. Being called on the carpet by General Dempsey is not a misspoken word.


Posted at 11:15 AM ET, 04/01/2012

Paul Ryan says he ‘misspoke’ on military budget (click here)

By Ed O'Keefe

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said Sunday he misspoke last week when discussing the military budget.

“I really misspoke,” Ryan said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union.

“Yeah, I totally misspoke,” he said later on ABC’s This Week.

At issue were comments Ryan made Thursday regarding the military budget. “We don’t think the generals are giving us their true advice,” he said at an event hosted by National Journal. “We don’t think the generals believe that their budget is really the right budget.”

In response, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey said he stood by his testimony on the Pentagon’s spending request....

There is no such thing as 'personal sovereignty.' And Gingrick is not dropping out.


Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory.


This is where the Republicans find all their rhetoric. This where they assault women as if they bodies were legal tender for population growth. NOT!


The Republicans covet PRIVACY RIGHTS as if they belong to the state whenever it is convenient. This is where rhetoric is born for those that believe the USA has to be God's Sovereign authority.

Kent Bush: Gingrich could save some dignity by dropping out (click here)

By Kent Bush

GateHouse News Service

Posted Apr 01, 2012 @ 05:15 PM

Remember when Newt Gingrich was the hot, new thing?

Not in 1974 and 1976, when he was losing congressional races in Georgia. Not even in 1978, when he finally won that seat. Not even in 1994, when he became the first Republican Speaker of the House in 40 years.

Newt was hot recently. Of course, so were Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain. It wasn’t that long ago that pundits were debating whether Cain would be willing to serve as Perry’s vice president. Time flies when you’re running for president....


The USA provides legal standing to privacy and within that privacy are 'issues of choice.' That choice includes marriage or no marriage, children or no children, education beyond the age of minority, religious practices and personal pursuits of happiness.


The Republican Rhetoric that chronically attacks recognition of 'stare decisis' of the Burger court is their mainstay of which they cannot achieve goals to their electorate. The frustration of the Republican 'base of all bases' are the charismatic holdings of the Social Conservative like Palin, Perry, Bachman and Cain. These folks are convinced 'if only they could' gain control of the country and legislatively instill the values that would reduce the cost of government to as near zero as it can get; will make the country a better place to live.


Not. They are values based in greed.


As a country grows it demands more costs and not less. In 1776 there was a population in the USA of 2.5 million and the military was a militia of 'those that could.' In 2012, the USA has spread its military over the entire globe. 


That is growth of people and expenses incurred by the government. When the Tenth Amendment was written to the USA Constitution the country was different. There are 27 amendments to the USA Constitution BECAUSE the USA has changed over the centuries of its existence. As the country grew and our society developed our personal lives changed, life became easier and we prospered.


Undoing the USA Constitution by destroying privacy rights, rolling back Amendments to the USA Constitution is regressive and unrealistic, but, when a Republicans makes the claim their 'ideology' is based in Constitutional Law it makes their political ranting appear legitimate.


If I could remove all the Amendments from the USA Constitution, disregard all the changes the USA went through including the fear of a President that would become a king, the face of the USA would be very different. That is ideology and not based in reality.


Today, Newt Gingrick stated he believed in 'personal sovereignty.' That is rhetoric, it has no place in democracy and increases intolerance of others. It is oppressive and divides a country.


The Republican Party needs to reclaim their identity, but, if they did it would look very much like the Democratic Party and if you listen to all the Republicans theologians IN ORDER TO HAVE A PARTY AND WIN there have to be complete opposites and dividing lines so voters know exactly what they are getting.


The chances Republicans will come away from extremism is unrealistic. The reality the Republican Rhetoric is based in greed of primarily, Corporate and Nouveau Riche, explains all the more why their base is intact. Romney is embracing all the extremists and have from the beginning of his campaign. The GOP is well mired in wealth and they aren't going anywhere no matter how PANDERING they are to those that are not extremists. 


If the GOP wants others to embrace them, they have to do so in real legislative matters that reassure Americans of their futures and not in the insecure reality one isn't riding the "Republican Government Bubble."

It is on a Facebook feed.

I fully expect Dick Cheney to be as tenacious as he has always been.

Nowhere on this blog will anyone ever read 'Go die.' 


If I am an advocate for health coverage for every American, it includes all Americans without exception.


Dick Cheney is the furthest from my political center as one can be, but, never in my wildest imagination would I ever wish him ill.


When faced with one's own life, the scenery changes. While I may differ with others, expecting to eliminate my worst political enemy through adverse health and lack of opportunity to save one's own life is not my idea of an opportunity to win over the opposition.


All to often we hear such harsh words from opposing points of view that are so alien to a civilized resolve to our nation's problems there are no ways to find common ground. Hatred resolves nothing. Expecting every American to be autonomous in providing their health care is unrealistic. 


I fully expect the former Vice President to completely recover. His improved health will be tempered with some tolerance to medications that support his heart transplant, but, he will have a much improved health status for as long as he does.


I am not going to speak to the idea this was unjust for someone in their seventies to receive a transplant, but, instead reflect on the fact that every American is valuable and worth the care we, as a nation, can give them. This very well is a landmark to our country whereby aged Americans can receive supportive recovery from chronic illness where all body systems are in good condition and allow such a life transformation.


In realizing that a heart transplant is a radical surgery for longevity, I remind myself of the genetic therapies currently being investigated that actually grow new arteries and heart muscle. There are answers to our dilemmas as Americans and they are all very promising. We need to move in the direction of promises the future holds. Medical ethics are good for people and I trust the physicians and researchers that believe in longevity and the promise of it for every citizen.


We need to end the threat of pre-mature death to all Americans.


There was one time in our country's history where a severe auto accident was nothing but death. The auto industry has worked long and hard with the guidance of government to provide vehicles that carry us in far more safe models than ever before. I


If, as a nation, we never 'go there' we will never 'get there.' Our history proves it. 


There is absolutely no moral content to the idea that if a former Vice President is worthy of life saving surgery, that every other American isn't either. 


I wish the Cheney family much happiness in their ability to have their loved one with them that much longer.

Imagine a society with 1 million people.

There is a criminal element among the populous of 10%. 

Let's say 25% of the population are armed with guns.

Does the crime rate go down?


Real LIfe.


Michigan Governor Rick Synder wants to move State Police to high crime areas from areas of the state with low crime rates.


Will the crime go down?


Yes and no.


The crime rate in high crime areas will make some improvement, but, the confrontations among police and criminals will be more violent.


But, the crime rates in what was low crime areas will go up. Why? Because criminals aren't stupid.


The only agenda the NRA has that is valid is that instilling fear of each other will increase gun sales.


A gun is not law enforcement. Putting more officers on the street, changing corrupt cultures within law enforcement and ridding the country of drug economies will reduce crime, nothing else will. When citizens arm themselves because there is weak police presence they become a danger to themselves. A police officer comes with skills and experience, criminals do, too.

From the Houston Chronicle today:

For all the years I have been reading newspapers from around the country it was always incredible how violent Texas was consistently. Every flyin' day. Without a missing a beat there was violence and death. 

Man who claimed self-defense is charged with murder in shooting (click title to entry - thank you)

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Updated 11:52 p.m., Friday, March 30, 2012

A man who told Houston police he fatally shot someone in self-defense has been charged with murder, officials said.

Police on Friday arrested Joseph Earl Francis, 53, in the Sunday shooting death of Joshua Johnson.

Houston police say witnesses told investigators that Johnson was walking in the 1400 block of Tarberry about 7:15 p.m. when a black Ford F-150 truck pulled alongside and someone inside the truck shot him.

Francis surrendered to authorities on Monday, telling investigators he and the 24-year-old Johnson had been involved in an 8-month-long dispute.

No further information is currently available.

Lawmakers profit from positions in Congress (click here)

By Gary Martin

Updated 10:04 a.m., Saturday, March 31, 2012

WASHINGTON — A government watchdog report that claims two-thirds of Texas congressional lawmakers used their positions to enrich themselves or family drew a strong retort Friday from both Democrats and Republicans.

The report, “Family Affair,” by the Citizens for Responsibility in Ethics in Washington, states that no laws or ethics codes were broken but shows a disconnect by lawmakers from voters despite continued low national opinion ratings for Congress.

“This report shows lawmakers still haven't learned it is wrong to trade on their positions as elected leaders to benefit themselves or their families,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW executive director.

The report lists 21 of the 32 Texas congressional lawmakers with questionable dealings....

Murders in Texas in 2010 - 1,249  That is 8.5% of the deaths in the USA. Not one-fiftieth (1/50). Eight and a half percent.


Murders in the entire USA in 2010 - 14,748


Rate of murders in Texas per 100,000 people in 2010 - 5 


That is an improvement of an all time high of 16.9 in 1980; while the rest of the country was 10.2.


Rate of murders in the entire USA in 2010 per 100,000 persons - 4.8

Texas City man convicted of capital murder (click here)

On Friday, a jury found a Texas City man guilty of capital murder in a bar shooting that killed two and injured one, the Daily News of Galveston reported.

Robert Hernandez Ramos is expected to be sentenced to life in prison, the newspaper reported.

The incident happened in 2010, according to the Houston Chronicle, when Ramos confronted his father-in-law, Robert Cantu, at the Little Doggie bar. Witnesses said Ramos shot Cantu execution-style, then shot other bar patrons during the commotion that erupted afterwards.

Rodger Doyle Robinson, who tried to stop Ramos, was shot and killed. A woman at the jukebox was shot in the shoulder and survived.

California and Florida have a larger death row population, but, have not executed as many people as Texas. So much for a deterrent. There is only one deterrent to murder and that is removing weapons from the street!

Capital punishment has been used in the U.S. state of Texas and its predecessor entities since 1819.

As of 28 March 2012, 1,232 individuals (all but six of whom have been male) have been executed. Only Virginia has executed more individuals overall; however, since the death penalty was re-instituted in the United States in the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision, Texas has executed (all via lethal injection) more inmates than any other state (beginning in 1982 with the execution of Charles Brooks Jr.), notwithstanding that two states (California and Florida) have a larger death row population than Texas.

Dallas' crime gun arsenal grew substantially more lethal from 1980 to 1992 as measured by changes in the types of guns confiscated by police.

...semiautomatic handguns rose from approximately 25% of confiscated handguns in the early 1980s to 0 65% in 1 9 9 2 . Likewise, large caliber handguns (defined as handguns largler than .32 caliber) accounted for approximately 45% of confiscated handguns in the early 1980s and rose to about 60% by the early 1990s. Large caliber semiautomatic handguns increased nearlyfourfold in relative terms, rising from under 10% of confiscated handguns in 1980 to 38% in 1992....


...Notwithstanding, this study has shown that the crime gun arsenal has become more lethal in recent years, and there is evidence that this trend has had negative consequences on public safety in Dallas, (click here) and presumably elsewhere. Indeed, the results of this study are very similar to those produced by an earlier study examining recent trends in gun lethality and gun violence mortality in Kansas City, Missouri....


The more guns on the street the more deaths there are. The more lethal the guns the more deaths there are.

Texas lawyers offer $10,000 for George Zimmerman's legal defense

What would the interest of a group of Texas lawyers be in a Florida killing of an innocent young man?


Self-defense? Who's self-defense? Zimmerman? The stalker? He needs a self-defense plea? 


Somebody has this wrong and I don't think it is those that see Trayvon Martin as a victim to someone who took the law into his own hands. This is outrageous. This gets more and more outrageous every day that goes by.


See, a lawyers association that wants to represent a gunman for self-defense wants every American carrying a weapon. After all, it is good for business. 


5:48 p.m. EST, March 30, 2012|

By Henry Pierson Curtis

Orlando Sentinel

The National Association for Legal Gun Defense (click title to entry - thank you) wants to contribute $10,000 toward George Zimmerman's legal expenses, a member said today.

The group represents gun owners involved in self-defense shooting cases, said attorney Blue Rannefeld of Fort Worth, Texas.

Rannefeld said he has not been able to contact Zimmerman, 28, and is trying to reach Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner of Altamonte Springs to make the group's offer of assistance.

"The Worst Persons in the World"

As per Minister Huckabee tonight, "If we don't get what we want, we will take to the streets."


He was maligning Reverend Al Sharpton, MSNBC, NBC and CNN.


He was accusing them of inciting riots. Funny I haven't noticed any riots in the streets.


He was chuckling with Bill O'Reilly about the current black movement in the USA spawned by the murder of Trayvon Martin.


O'Reilly went on to say, "In all my 37 years I have never seen anything like this."


Murdoch's bigots didn't stop there.


They went on to say the good Reverends Sharpton and Jessie Jackson were inspiring riots.


The idea that Black Men cannot control themselves in the USA is a long standing hatred and completely racism.


When O'Reilly was criticized by a viewer for participating in a discussion regarding Trayvon Martin by bringing on a family attorney, O'Reilly responded by saying, 'What I did was responsible reporting and what MSNBC and the others are doing is irresponsible commentary." 


Excuse me? FOX News is exempt from irresponsible commentary? Since when? 


I also don't believe the other stations are responsible for irresponsible commentary. I believe everyone is attempting to contextualize what happened without an official decision from the authorities. 


I know what happened.

An innocent young man going about life without bothering a soul was nearly home when a man stalking him with a gun interrupted his day. When faced with the danger he feared he attempted to defend himself. He lost the struggle and was shot dead. 


The most responsible party besides Mr. Zimmerman is the State of Florida and other states that have passed "The Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" that has empowered gun owners to take the law in their own hands.


Mr. Huckabee being a former Governor believed he was qualified to comment as an authority on the irresponsible nature of the commentary in the media. Mr. Huckabee was the Governor of the most impoverished state in the nation. He has much to reflect on.


It would be beneficial to all if everyone was on the same page with this topic. I can only imagine the added burden and pain the family has when people are this blatantly bigoted over the memory of their son. I am more than pleased they have control of their son's name and image. 


Honestly, Mr. O'Reilly.

From what I hear the Private Equities Firms hold the most tickets.

NEW YORK — At least one New Yorker has a plan for what he'll do if he wins the $640 million Mega Millions jackpot.

Alfredo Mora says he'll reopen the landmark Tavern on the Green restaurant. He was a bartender there for 37 years before he retired.

The 91-year-old Mora waited in line to buy tickets Friday at a newsstand at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Ticket buyers were converging on stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C., where Mega Millions tickets are sold. The drawing was scheduled for late Friday night in Atlanta.

Others buying tickets said that if they won they would help their families and give to charity.

Some, like 22-year-old Fatimah Kabba, were first-time lottery customers. Kabba said she bought Mega Millions tickets because "everyone else is doing it."

This was a video made in November of 2011. It is wonderful to see senior members of our society well engaged in life.

\\

They are wonderful and the nation could not be more grateful for the service to our country of the former President George H. W. Bush.

It would seem Romney's Labor Advisor, Peter Schaumber, knows little to nothing about labor.

National Labor Relations Board (click title to entry - thank you) Inspector General David Berry released a report late last week alleging that recently appointed board member Terence Flynn provided confidential information to two former NLRB members.

Following an investigation, Berry claimed that while Flynn served as a chief counsel to board member Brian Hayes, he leaked information to Peter Kirsanow and Peter Schaumber—both of whom were in private practice at the time—to be used for their private benefit. Berry claimed Flynn’s actions violated Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch; he also snubbed Berry for allegedly demonstrating a lack of candor during the investigation....


Why else would the Romney campaign need information no one else had in their campaign? Romney could come up with labor policy without insider information? It would seem to be the case. There is such a thing as saying, "No." It is ethical to turn down information one is not suppose to have by law. Unethical standards seems to be acceptable in the Romney campaign.

Removing oil subsidies does NOTHING to oil prices. It is like saying if the price of corn goes up beef prices follow. Not the case.

A GOP-aligned oil industry group (click here) announced today that it's launching a $3.6 million advertising blitz in eight battleground states attacking President Obama for rising gas prices....


The facts are simple. Oil is a commodity and the price for oil is set on Wall Street through speculation. That same dynamic applies to corn and cows. 


The USA is exporting oil, that has nothing to do with gas prices at the pump, what it does do is lower the reserves for future generations. So, while speculators can exploit high prices and get away with it they are and oil billionaires are as well. It doesn't matter how much oil is in the market either, the "Oil Cartel of Wall Street" has set the price and everyone, including a Democratic President, has to live with it.


If OAT prices goes up that doesn't mean the meat producers are going to get more for their products in the market. In the case of oats and livestock it is supply and demand. The only way livestock prices goes up in that scenario is if the producers grow less. But, most farmers, especially within that scenario, will grow more livestock to make up for lost revenues which actually works against their favor. They do it anyway.


The fact of the matter is the Republicans are WASTING THE USA TREASURY on billionaires while abandoning people on Medicare.


Two income tax rates is hideous as well. It is based in ideology and not reality. To expect a family of four with an income of $40,000 per year to pay $4000 in income tax is completely stupid.


Republicans have rhetoric and Democrats have ideas.


Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) (click title to entry - thank you) are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85% ethanol (E85). Except for a few engine and fuel system modifications, they are identical to gasoline-only models. FFVs experience no loss in performance when operating on E85. However, since ethanol contains less energy per volume than gasoline, FFVs typically get about 25-30% fewer miles per gallon when fueled with E85.

Another victory for Apple, this time it is human capital.

China is moving into the real world thanks to Apple.


In this May 27, 2010 file photo, workers cling to the logo at the entrance of the Foxconn complex in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. A pledge reported Thursday, March 29, 2012 by the manufacturer of Apple's iPhones and iPads to limit work hours at its factories in China could force other global corporations to hike pay for Chinese workers who produce the world's consumer electronics, toys and other goods.


Automation will help, but, Foxconn employees may want to organize to protect their jobs. They could have made these changes a long time ago and saved lives. Apple can be said to be influential in changing labor conditions in China. I congratulate them. It only goes to prove intangible values matter. 


...But the policy change (click title to entry - thank you) also means the electronics manufacturer will need to hire a significant number of extra workers to make up for the lost hours, the audit said. Foxconn already employs 1.2 million workers in China.

Labor costs in China, however, only a make up a small fraction of a product's total cost, said Helen Chiang, an analyst with research firm IDC. In the case of a PC, the labor cost will only amount to three to four percent of its price, she said.

Foxconn is also expanding its factory base into central and western China, where worker wages are lower. This is expected to bring down Foxconn's labor costs by 20 to 30 percent, Chiang said.

"I don't think the new policies will have much impact on product prices," she added. "Foxconn has already been working to resolve these labor costs."...

According to the Globe and Mail there won't be any loss of an average of $634.00 per month. They need to organize and protect their interests.

...Foxconn’s concessions, (click here) including cutting overtime for its 1.2 million mainland Chinese workers while promising compensation that protects them against losing income, were backed by Apple, which has faced criticism and media scrutiny for worker safety lapses and for using relatively low-paid employees to make high-cost phones, computers and other gadgets....

“We have just been told that we can only work a maximum of 36 hours a month of overtime. I tell you, a lot of us are unhappy with this. We think that 60 hours of overtime a month would be reasonable and that 36 hours would be too little,” she added. Mr. Chen said she now earned a bit over $634 a month.

Foxconn is one the biggest employers of China’s 153 million rural migrants working outside their hometowns. Compared to smaller, mainland-owned factories, workers said, its vast plants are cleaner and safer and offer more recreation sites....

Apple invested in the opinion from Fair Labor Association seriously.

...Those details and more were released (click here) Thursday afternoon by the Fair Labor Association (FLA) based in Washington, D.C., of which Apple is a member. Apple agreed earlier this year to participate in an audit of its factories to monitor working conditions, pay, and safety issues. FLA conducted surveys at three Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China during February and March.

The extensive audit supports what critics have been saying for years. Apple's main contractor in China is accused of ignoring safety while forcing its workers to do excessive overtime on the assembly line....

There really isn't anything else to know.

A man empowered by a law that gave him the right to take the law into his own hands, did.


Trayvon Martin was going about his business. He was nearly home when he was faced with a man stalking him. When confronted with that reality he fought in self defense and lost.


He was shot maliciously by a man that wasn't going to let "The fucking coon get away with it." 


There isn't anything else to know. 


Trayvon did nothing wrong except defend himself against a stranger with a gun. The law in Florida stands in the way of justice. 


There sincerely isn't anything else to know.

Actions speak louder than words. What was Trayvon suppose to do draw his Skittle and Arizona Iced Tea on Zimmerman?

'''"It's my understanding that Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him," the 64-year-old Robert Zimmerman said....


Ya think?


I bet even Zimmerman at this point knows the folly of gun ownership.

Low participation at Iraq Summit of the Arab League

...The absence of five Gulf Arab leaders (click title to entry - thank you) reflects increased Sunni-Shia tensions across the region in the aftermath of last year's Arab Spring uprisings, particularly the one against a regime dominated by a Shiite offshoot sect in Sunni-majority Syria and another by majority Shiites in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, also a Gulf Arab nation.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani, also the country's foreign minister, told Al-Jazeera late Wednesday that his own nation's low level of representation was a "message" to Iraq's majority Shiites to stop what he called the marginalization of minority Sunnis.

Majority Shiites have dominated Iraq since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. The nation's once powerful Sunnis complain that the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is concentrating power in the hands of the Shiites. There is a growing desire by Sunni-majority provinces to win autonomy as a way to escape Shiite domination....

While bombs went off in Iraq during the summit, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia was kidnapped in Yemen. So much for good will.

JEDDAH: The Foreign Ministry (click here) yesterday warned the armed group which kidnapped Saudi diplomat Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Khalidi in front of his house in Aden, Yemen.

Saudi Arabia's deputy consul Abdullah Al-Khalidi, was seized in Mansoora district of Aden as he was about to enter his car.

A ministry source said the group would be held responsible for the captive’s safety and demanded his immediate release.

“The kidnappers will achieve nothing out of this act,” the official said, adding that the Kingdom would take all necessary measures to protect its diplomats and employees.

Saudi Ambassador in Sanaa Ali Al-Hamdan said: "Some signs of a fight were visible in the car owned by the kidnapped diplomat, who apparently showed resistance."...

How does oil in South Sudan turn into hate for Israel?

Blast in Baghdad as Arab summit opens (click here)

Published: 16:15 March 29, 2012

AFP

A blast rocked central Baghdad near the Iranian embassy on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital's heavily-fortified Green Zone as a landmark Arab summit opened Thursday

Baghdad: A blast rocked central Baghdad near the Iranian embassy on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital's heavily-fortified Green Zone as a landmark Arab summit opened Thursday, an AFP journalist said.

"It was a mortar round that landed near the (Iranian) embassy. There are no casualties," though some of the windows of the embassy were broken, a police official said.

The blast was heard at around 1:40 pm (1040 GMT) and took place in the Salhiyeh neighbourhood of central Baghdad. As smoke billowed into the sky, security forces members, military vehicles and firefighters were seen heading to the site of the blast....

BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman (click here) expressed Thursday support for efforts to secure a political solution in Syria and reiterated Lebanon’s policy of dissociating itself from developments in its neighbor.

“We reiterate ... our hopes that the tireless efforts and [U.N.-Arab envoy] Kofi Anan reach an agreed political solution to the Syria crisis based on the core of the Arab [League] initiative which would allow for a cessation of all forms of hostilities, and implementation of reforms and a transition to democracy sought for by the Syrians that would restore Syria’s stability, position and role,” Sleiman said during the 23rd round of the Arab Summit in Baghdad....